Okay, I'm pretty new to this whole exercise thing and I don't know much about what you're supposed to aim for as for as a burn off. I just do it until I get really tired. Now, I don't know how accurate the calorie counters on exercise machines are, but in an average day I do about 20 minutes on the treadmill at work and about 30-45 minutes at home on my gazelle. Sometimes I mix it up and do the rowing machine at work, or the exercise bike, but that hurts my butt (that's another story for another time). Anyway, today for example, the two of those things combined said that I burned a total of 1,010 calories. I only ate 640 calories though. Does that mean I'm going to pass out and die? I'm still having a hard time getting up to the 800 calories my doctor wanted me to, but I figure 650 is way better than the 450 I was getting 3 weeks ago. But now when I put my figures in my tracking app, it's saying that I still have over 900 calories that I need for the day.

Am I doing this right?

I would say it means you will be burning lots of fat for energy while working out! As long as you are well hydrated, you should be fine. Eating few calories soon after surgery is how you utilize the sleeve and lose lots of weight.

Exercise machines are notoriously inaccurate when it comes to estimating caloric expenditure. If you are exercising moderately for an hour a day, you probably are burning between 250-400 calories (smaller people less, larger people more). We all lose because we burn more than we take in, exercise just increases the calorie deficit and increases metabolism. You are doing great and as Becca said, burn off the fat and work your sleeve!

You can have too few calories. If you do not have enough calories your body will go into conservation mode because it thinks it's starving and you will not lose weight. That is one of the primary reasons people go into stalls. I know it seems counterintuitive, but you must have calories in order to lose weight. I do think that your machines are off on the amount of calories you're burning.

"The most effective way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you expend, creating a calorie deficit. But if your calorie intake dips too low, says Lummus, your body could go into starvation mode. "Your body will start to store fat because it thinks it is not going to get anything," says Lummus. "You will be at a point where your body is kind of at a standstill." Lummus says that when your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl, burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve its energy stores. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight. "

http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/fewer-calories-stalls-metabolism.aspx

I agree with the above post. You also have to remember that you burn calories at rest too!! My research told me that I needed to build lean muscle mass to burn FAT. Cardio burns calories, which I could NOT AFFORD to burn as I was taking in so few. I've been working with a trainer for 7 months, a pro athelete, and he agrees with my above statment. I would strongly suggest you explore more information regarding burning of calories vs burning of fat. What's your goal, calories or fat? Once you decide, gear your workout to that....and it will guide you accordingly.

I'd guess those should you about double the amount you actually burn. I would guess normal walking on a treadmill gets you a maximum of 100 calories in 20 minutes. Really fast walking may get you 200 calories, but for that you'd be huffing and puffing and sweating up a storm.

The Gazelle uses a lot of gravity for the exercise, and I would say it burns about the same amount.

Most machines overestimate the amount, even more so if you put in your weight and are obese. Somehow, I think those machines consider 250 pounds weight as a very muscular athletic person (think Arnold Schwarzenegger). Heavier people burn a bit more, but your "fat weight" burns pretty much nothing.

What I have found helpfull is a heart rate monitor. There are lots of them out there and some very good ones for just about $40. Polar makes very good low end ones and it's all you need. You enter your stats, like age, weight, etc, and it automatically calculates your optimal range for hear rate. When you excercise it tracks your heart rate and lets you know if you are below or above and it helps keep you in that healthy burning zone. (If you're too low, speed up and if your heart rate is too high, slow down a bit). It also keeps track of the calories you burn, based on this heart rate. Just be sure to adjust the weight as you loose since it's part of the calculation.

I have also heard people talk about the "body bugg" which I believe works similarly but may be more expensive. I've never used this nor know much about it. Just thought I put it out there in case some one else can comment.

Good luck with your work outs! :-)

I have both a Polar Heart Rate Monitor F7 and the Body Bugg. The Body Bugg calculates total calories (at rest and active) the entire time you have on the arm band. It also tracks your steps and how much activity you do during a day. The HRM by Polar just calculates your bpm and how many calories you burn while you have it on.

I wear them both during workouts but I usually have my body bugg on all day.

I got the body bugg as a christmas present to myself. :-) My workout buddy bought me the HRM.